Twas the night before Christmas or Yuletide Or Such…
Of the day Im not certain but I remember this much,
The North-winds were blowing Snowstorms through the air,
Forewarning that Odin soon would be there.

The Lords of Misrule had danced and had fed,
Along Earth Mother’s Night where mistletoe paths joyfully led,
And now the people of this world, and above and below,
had withdrawn to their hearths, to their kinsfolk and so…

Then out in the heavens there arose such a clatter,
I ran out from my fireside to see what was the matter,
Away thoughts and memories I flew in a flash,
Tore open the curtains and went out in a dash.

There shinning bright neath Cerridwen’s moon,
Like midday in middle earth lay the snow all around strewn,
And as my eyes raced around for the source of the clamor
I be-spied Odin the Wise, in such grandeur, I stammer…

Across midnight sky in reindeer sled did he fly,
The Holly King himself with Eckhardt and the spirits of those who did die,
For tis the 12 nights of Yuletide and this heavenly crew,
Odin leads across rainbow bridge to their afterlife new.

As howling storms before that wild hurricane fly
So more and more spirits mount this magical sky,
Beyond the edge of the moon and outside of time,
To the North-lands beyond knowing they disappeared with a sigh.

In relief and quite awestruck I turned to go home,
Then heard the King’s laughter and I froze as if struck by the Crone,
”Now Sleipnir and Cracker and Gnasher and Vixen,
To the children of Asgard we must dash on our mission…

For this is the night we bring our blessings to bear!”
Then a tinkling on roof of each reindeer hoof did I hear,
I gathered my cape and for Goddess protection beseech
When down lept Black Eckhard on me his flaming eyes reached..

Then Holly King Odin, his voice like thunder did call,
”Now now dear black Eckhardt, let us raise those who did fall”
And dressed in a red cloak from his head to his foot,
His hair and his beard with starlight gently shook.

And his one eye gleamed bright as he laughed with delight,
As beside him his Eckhardt to lead wicked from fright..
Of Odin’s good humor, he was a right jolly elf,
Set my terrors departed as he smiled at my self.

He spoke no more words but went straight to his work,
Placing omens and icons and keepsakes on earth,
Invoking the New Sun, the New Year and Weddings
That fruitful be harvest, casting seeds in fields bedding’s.

His midwinter missive on Yuletide and Christmas now done,
They sprang into sleigh to depart ere the day come,
But before they were long gone and echoing still,
His laughing call rang out clear…
Happy Yuletide to All, and to All a goodnight!

The Ancient season of Yule which includes The Midwinter Solstice (the shortest day of the Year, 21st December) is a Sacred time of reflection and celebration. Many different cultures from the Nordic Vikings and Celtic Druids, the ancient Egyptians and Hopi Indians have ritualized this time to promote Spiritual Unity, Peace and Joy.

The Magickal season of deepest darkness starts in the Celtic tradition at Samhain, slightly earlier in the Nordic tradition.
During this supernatural time of Yuletide we may walk between the worlds.
Now that the veil between the worlds is thin, all sorts of Otherworldly beings including the dead roam the earth, we may even encounter elves or trolls and also Gods and Goddesses.

The Twelve Sacred Nights of Yule start with Mother’s Night (December 24th) and are considered the ‘Time Between the Years’, the difference of days between the lunar year and the solar year.
As the old would end with Winter Solstice the New Year would only start at the end of the Rauhnaechte (January 6th).
During this time Odin rides the storm winds with his army of the dead, both in the Wild Hunt and also leading them to their afterlife new, most importantly the ensuing storms in their wake stir the fertility of the earth for the New Year…

Odin appears to be ‘blind’ in one eye which he sacrificed at the Well of Wisdom for Understanding, with this eye he sees the underworld and afterlife…

The tradition of bringing sprigs of Holly and Ivy into the home pays homage to the masculine and feminine elements.
Both of these powerfully magickal plants are evergreen, a reminder in itself that the earth never dies, but merely sleeps during the winter months.